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Music of Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise has had various soundtracks, singles, arrangements, and remixes released since its origin in 1995. Shirō Sagisu composed most of the music for the series and its films, while many of the songs were named by Hideaki Anno himself. King Records and their label Starchild distributed most of the albums, singles, and box sets. For the anime series, Yoko Takahashi performed the song "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" which was used as the opening theme. The song "Fly Me to the Moon", originally by Bart Howard, was performed by various singers and voice actors from the anime, and these versions were used as the ending theme during the show's credits. Vocal songs were also granted for the films in the franchise: Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, its follow-up The End of Evangelion, and the first two installments of the Rebuild of Evangelion film series. Theme songs ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis'' The main theme song for the anime series, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", plays during the opening of the show. It was sung by Yoko Takahashi, with lyrics written by Neko Oikawa. Many versions of the song have been produced, from the TV version which removes some background voices, to a jazz remix on Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade. ''Beautiful World'' Sung by popular Japanese artist Hikaru Utada, "Beautiful World" is the main theme song of the Rebuild of Evangelion films. It is used as the credits song for both films, and is featured in trailers for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. For Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, a remix titled "Beautiful World Planitb Acoustica Mix" was used as the credits music. ''Fly Me to the Moon'' For the ending credits of the anime, female vocal arrangements of Bart Howard's Fly Me to the Moon were used. Each episode contained a different version of the song, with 31 in total from the DVDs and director's cut episodes. A new version, titled Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) -2007 MIX-'', was recorded by Utada Hikaru for the Rebuild of Evangelion series. ''Komm, Süsser Tod An upbeat song that plays during the instrumentality sequence of The End of Evangelion. It was sung by female vocalist Arianne, with original lyrics written by Hideaki Anno himself. Two versions of the song exist – a shortened director's edit used in the film, and a single version with additional background singers. ''Soul's Refrain'' The theme song for the film Death and Rebirth, Soul's Refrain is played during the end credits. It was performed by Yoko Takahashi and released as a single alongside the film's other soundtrack, Death (soundtrack) on February 21, 1997. Takahashi later remixed the song as Soul's Refrain (ERATO Version) for her 1997 album Li-La. ''Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours-'' An R&B arrangement of Thanatos used as the credits song for The End of Evangelion. The song was performed by Loren of LOREN&MASH and released on a single alongside the film's main soundtrack on August 1, 1997. It was later remixed as THANATOS-IF I CAN'T BE YOURS-“Nine Years After Mix” for a 2006 single with Soul's Refrain. ''Sakura Nagashi'' The theme song for the film Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. It was performed by Hikaru Utada, and released on November 17, 2012. It plays during the film's credits. Soundtrack albums ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' The first soundtrack for the television show, it was released on November 22, 1995. It contains songs used in the first half of the series, as well as the director's edit of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis". Also included are three versions of "Fly Me to the Moon". ''Neon Genesis Evangelion II'' The second soundtrack released for the series, Neon Genesis Evangelion II, was released on February 16, 1996. A new vocal song, Premonition, was recorded for the album by Yoko Takahashi, and the TV size edit of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was also included. The end of the album contains five versions of "Fly Me to the Moon" used in the credits of each episode. ''Neon Genesis Evangelion III'' The last soundtrack for the original series, Neon Genesis Evangelion III was released on May 22, 1996. It contains songs used in the second half of the series, as well as two new vocal tracks, Eternal Embrace and Happiness Smells of Sin. The last third of the album is taken up by the many alternate versions of Fly Me to the Moon used in the show's credits. ''Death'' The soundtrack for the film Death and Rebirth, released on June 11, 1997. It contains the classical music and original tracks used in the Death portion of the film, as well as a bonus track from Rebirth. Two songs featured in The End of Evangelion are also on this album instead of that film's soundtrack. ''The End of Evangelion'' The soundtrack for the 1997 film of the same name, released on Sep 26, 1997. It contains 14 uncut tracks used in the film, including the director's edit of Komm, süsser Tod, and the credits song Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours-. The song titles were never officially translated into English, and the album was not released in North America until 2004 ''Neon Genesis Evangelion: S² Works'' A 7 disc collection of nearly every song recorded for the original series, including unused and unreleased tracks. Also included are alternate takes of existing songs, with certain instruments removed or the tempo altered. It was released December 4, 1998. ''Music from Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone'' The first soundtrack for the film Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, released September 25, 2007 . It contains the majority of the music used in the film, but the tracks are not edited for time. ''Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone Original Soundtrack'' The second soundtrack for the film Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, released May 25, 2008. It contains every song used in the movie, but the tracks are edited for the length they play on screen, and are named with their production codes. Also included are several vocal songs, such as the faintly heard music on Shinji's SDAT player, and the credits song Beautiful World. ''Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance Original Soundtrack'' A two disc soundtrack for the film Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, released September 25, 2007. It expands upon the previous work, adding more english language choir tracks, and several remakes of songs from the original series. Not included is the credits song, Beautiful World Planitb Acoustica Mix, which was released on a later single. ''Music from Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo'' The two disc soundtrack to Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, it was released November 28, 2012. It contains every song used in the film uncut for time. Many of the songs feature large choirs, with lyrics by Mike Wyzgowski. The first disc plays these songs in chronological film order, while the second disc is mostly piano tracks. ''Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo Original Soundtrack'' The second soundtrack for the film Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, released May 24, 2013, as a first press release with the Blu-Ray/DVD Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. It contains every song used in the movie, but the tracks are edited for the length they play on screen, and are named with their production codes. The credit song, Sakura Nagashi is also included. Compilation albums ''Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade'' Released for the 10th anniversary of the original series' run, Evangelion Decade hit shelves on November 26, 2005. It consists of nearly every vocal song recorded for the television show and movies, as well as new versions of A Cruel Angel's Thesis and Soul's Refrain sung by Yoko Takahashi. ''The Day of Second Impact'' A collection of seemingly unrelated songs from prior Evangelion albums, it was released on September 13, 2000 to coincide with the fictional date of its title event. The last track on the disc, a strings version of Jesus bleibet meine Freude, was used as the ending credits of The End of Evangelion for the initial home releases. ''The Birthday of Rei Ayanami'' Released on March 30, 2001, The Birthday of Rei Ayanami was actually released according to her voice actor, Megumi Hayashibara's birthday. The album contains three songs performed by the title voice actor, including new versions of A Cruel Angel's Thesis and Soul's Refrain. The rest of the tracks are related to Rei whenever she appears onscreen. ''Refrain of Evangelion'' Released May 26, 2003, Refrain of Evangelion is a compilation of 26 songs from the anime series and its films. This album marked the first time Everything You've Ever Dreamed was released outside of S² Works. ''A.T.EVA01 Reference CD'' A CD packaged with a pair of Eva-style headphones. It contains several vocal theme songs from the series. Arranged albums ''Evangelion-VOX'' A hip-hop/rap remix album of tracks from the original series, it was released on December 3, 1997. Many of the songs were performed by Loren & Mash, the duo who created the remix Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours- from The End of Evangelion. Songs from this album were also performed live in the Evangelion Symphony concert. ''Evangelion Symphony'' A recording of the 1997 performance at Bunkamura Orchard Hall, featuring orchestral renditions of the most iconic songs in the series. The original voice actors appeared as MCs for the concert, and several of their interludes are included on the album. A video recording of the performance was also released on VHS and Laserdisc. The CD was released on December 22, 1997. ''Evangelion Wind Symphony'' A two volume collection of songs from the series arranged in a marching band brass style, they were released December 9, 2009. In the place of traditional strings, wind instruments such as flutes are substituted. While some songs are simply remade, others, like Decisive Battle, are changed dramatically to take advantage of the style and feature new vocals. Studio albums ''Evangelion Classical'' A four album collection of the classical songs featured in the anime, Death and Rebirth, and The End of Evangelion. The first contains the entirety of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The second is a two disc recording of Verdi's Requiem, of which Dies Irae previously appeared on Addition. The third contains a complete recording of Handel's Messiah across two discs. The fourth contains several compositions by J.S. Bach. ''Refrain, The Songs Were Inspired by Evangelion'' A vocal arrangement album, Refrain -the songs were inspired by Evangelion-'' was released on November 6, 1997. It contains remixes of Yoko Takahashi's Evangelion theme songs, as well as instrumental arrangements by Tony Orly. ''Neon Genesis Evangelion Addition The fourth album for the original series, Evangelion Addition was released December 21, 1996. It includes a version of A Cruel Angel's Thesis sung by Asuka, Misato, and Rei's voice actors, as well as full versions of the classical songs used in the later episodes. The biggest feature of the album is a comedic drama track with the original voice actors reprising their roles. Singles ''Fly Me to the Moon (single) One of the first singles for the franchise, ''Fly Me to the Moon was released on October 25, 1995. It contains the Claire and '4-beat' versions of Fly Me to the Moon, as well as their instrumental cuts.http://vgmdb.net/album/22670 ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis//Fly Me to the Moon (1995 single) One of the first singles, this two track release contained the Claire version of ''Fly Me to the Moon and the full cut of A Cruel Angel's Thesis. It was released on October 25, 1995.http://vgmdb.net/album/22671 ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis//Moon's Labyrinth'' One of the first singles, it was released on October 25, 1995. It contains the titular songs and their instrumental versions.http://vgmdb.net/album/22663 ''Soul's Refrain / Return to Primitive Heart (single) A single released on February 21, 1997 containing the two theme songs for Death and Rebirth. Instrumental versions of both songs were also included.http://vgmdb.net/album/22351 ''THANATOS- If I Can't Be Yours- (single) The single for The End of Evangelion released on August 1, 1997. It contained Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours-, Air, and Komm, süsser Tod.http://vgmdb.net/album/35698 ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis//Fly Me to the Moon (2003 single) A CD re-release of the 1995 single, A Cruel Angel's Thesis / FLY ME TO THE MOON. It was released on March 26, 2003 as part of Evangelion's tenth anniversary. Also included on the disc was the Director's Edit of A Cruel Angel's Thesis and instrumental versions of both songs.http://vgmdb.net/album/35756 ''Soul's Refrain//THANATOS -If I Can't Be Yours-'' A single released on May 24, 2006 containing the titular songs along with Return to the Primitive Heart, and an instrumental version of Soul's Refrain. The only new song was a remix of Thanatos -If I Can't Be Yours- with the subtitle "Nine Years After Mix."http://vgmdb.net/album/35757 ''A Cruel Angel's Thesis -2009 Version-'' A remake of Fly Me to the Moon and A Cruel Angel's Thesis released near ''Evangelion 2.0 on May 13, 2009. The album also included the original song One Little Wish, and instrumental versions of all three songs. Each track was performed by Yoko Takahashi.http://vgmdb.net/album/35772 ''Shuuketsu no Sono he'' Featured in the CR NEON GENESIS EVANGELION ~The Beginning and the End~ pachinko machine, Shuuketsu no Sono he was released as a CD single on April 22, 2009. The song was composed by Go Takahashi, and performed by Rei Ayanami's voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara.http://vgmdb.net/album/35771 ''Return to the Primitive Heart -2012 Version-'' A version of the Death and Rebirth single performed by Asuka's voice actress, Yuko Miyamura. The song was featured in the CR Evangelion 7 pachinko machine, and released as a CD on January 11, 2012. The CD release also includes an original song, Shiawase no betsumei, and instrumental versions of both songs.http://vgmdb.net/album/31653 Notes and references Category:Music